


Maternity War

by Signel_chan



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Babies, F/F, Humanstuck, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-26
Updated: 2014-02-26
Packaged: 2018-01-13 20:16:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1239424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Signel_chan/pseuds/Signel_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vriska lives life as if it's an adventure. When she unexpectedly ends up pregnant--a whole new adventure for her--things end up much differently than she would have expected them to go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maternity War

**Author's Note:**

> It's apparently Femslash February and I had an idea for a fic that kinda fit in that category. I had the idea a month ago but decided against writing it until now just so that I had something to show for this month. It does contain a bit of character bashing, but, honestly, the character deserves it for what they do.

To Vriska, anything in life was an adventure. Crossing the crosswalk without the right of way? Thrilling and adrenaline-pumping. Going out late after dark to get drunk and party hard when there was an early morning looming? Definitely a journey she embarked on frequently, but still so much of an adventure. She enjoyed the challenges her adventure-seeking lifestyle tended to throw at her, so when she had something come out of the blue and surprise her, it was nothing more than a new adventure for her to embark on.

She didn't go on these adventures on her own, though, as she almost always had her loving and loyal boyfriend Tavros by her side. He was much more timid and less confident than she was, so there were some things she did that he'd panic and bail out of, but most of the time he was right there beside her as she did whatever her little heart decided on doing.

The biggest adventure in Vriska's life was about to begin, she learned when her monthly cycle didn't happen when it should and, combined with the strange bout of sickness she had been battling, the signs pointed to one thing: she was in the early stages of being pregnant. Without so much as telling Tavros that she suspected it, she went out and proved her suspicions correct, through first the use of the cheap tests she could find at the gas station, and then by going to a doctor just to make absolute sure.

Now she wasn't exactly ready to become a mother, but she knew that this opportunity was presenting itself to her for one reason, and she knew that motherhood was an adventure all in itself. It would be a painful and stressful journey, but in the end it would be worth it, especially with a loving man by her side. Or, at least, that's what she told herself. She wasn't one for long-term events, especially painful ones, but she was fully aware that if she did anything to get rid of the child she was now home to, she would never be forgiven by anyone, not Tavros, not her friends, not even herself.

Keeping it a secret from someone she lived with and was in close contact with on a daily basis was difficult, starting from the very moment she had began to go through morning sickness. That was the easiest thing to cover up, as she claimed it was just a bug that she had contracted at some point or another and Tavros easily believed her. After all, why would he need to doubt his girlfriend about her being sick? But once she got over the random vomiting and inability to keep food down at certain times of the day, therefore losing her excuse of just being sick (and also fully knowing what the real reason was), things were significantly more challenging.

That was because, as per what everyone and their grandma believed to be normal, she was losing one set of problems to gain a different set, that being the slow but steady and noticeable growth that the baby was beginning to put her through. At first it was easy to conceal, as her normal wardrobe consisted of baggy clothing and she was rarely nude around Tavros, but after a few weeks of growing it became very, very clear to her that if she didn't tell him soon, he'd be able to tell that something was amiss just by looking at her—and she wouldn't be able to use the excuse of eating more than normal, as she hadn't changed her eating habits one bit.

It was decided that she'd let him in on the news on the same day that she attempted to put on her absolute favorite pair of work pants and was completely unable to get them buttoned. No matter how hard she tried, she had just grown too much to be able to do it, and that was the last straw when it came to keeping the secret. When she'd get home from work that night, with a safety pin holding her pants together, she'd have to tell him.

The plan didn't go over all too well, because when she got home it was late and he was already in bed, relaxing and watching a movie while he waited for her. That never happened unless he wanted to get laid, and after hearing the news she had it was very unlikely that he'd want to do anything but talk on and on about the adventure they were right in the middle of.

Since the room was dark and he was distracted by his movie, she was able to undress and get into her oversized pajama shirt that was just barely starting to get snug on her, before climbing into bed next to him. “Hey there, Tavros,” she said, running her fingers up and down one of his arms. “You look like you're about to fall asleep.”

“Not now, they're about to do something cool, I know it.” He pushed her away and focused back on his movie, but she was unrelenting with the physical contact. “Stop, please, I want to watch my movie and then we can do something. Got it?”

“I don't want to do anything, though.” She turned to face him, smiling as she did. He was distracted, yes, but that was a good thing in her mind. He wouldn't fully grasp the news until later, and then he'd be more excited about it than if he had gotten in right away. “I just need to talk to you.”

He rolled his eyes but paused the movie and turned to her. “Normally you aren't pushy like this unless it's either important or you think it's important. What's up?”

She decided to just come clean about everything with absolutely no beating around the bush, something she rarely ever did: “I'm pregnant, Tavros.”

Three words changed his playful smile into a frown, then into a look of terror. He threw the blankets off of his body, shaking as he did, and once he got up he began tearing around the room, tossing random belongings of his into a pile in the corner. “No no no, you can't be, you just can't be,” he kept saying as he worked, going through drawers and the closet to get his things. “I can't deal with that! I'm not ready for that, no way!”

“I thought you'd be happy...” she said with a sigh, sitting up and rubbing at her little stomach bump. “Come on, me, you, and this baby, going on all sorts of family adventures! Doesn't that sound like fun?”

“No, actually, it doesn't sound like fun!” he replied, pulling a suitcase out of the closet. “And I want nothing to do with that! I'm in no shape for that kind of commitment!”

Her bottom lip wobbled. “What do you mean?”

“I'm not being a dad. Fuck that.” He was packing that suitcase as fast as he could. “Fuck everything about you, really, if you think you can corner me into that without my consent. I bet you're too excited about this 'adventure' to realize that that's a fucking _human being_ inside of you, and human beings are hard work!” He kicked something, resulting in a crashing sound that coincided perfectly with the timing of tears beginning to fall down Vriska's cheeks. “You're not ready for this, and neither am I, and I'm not going to sit around and watch you crash and burn. You can do that on your own.”

“Come on, Tavros!” she cried out, her voice drawing out his name by habit. “You have to stay here, for me! Don't you love me?”

“You're beyond the point where my love for you is a rational reason for me to stay.” He bent over, zipped his bag up, and headed for the door. “I'll be back sometime for the rest of my stuff. Have fun ruining your life on your own.”

It didn't really sink in that he had left until he had slammed the door and she was left in the glow of the television, crying her eyes out about something she had thought he'd be happy about. She had really thought that he'd stick around for her, that he'd be as happy as she was about this new adventure, but she had been wrong. It was like the time they went to the amusement park and he panicked and ran out of the line for the roller coaster; he'd stick around for all the things he wanted and liked, but the second it became something new to him, he bailed. And that was how it was then, and she cried about it until she fell asleep.

* * *

The morning light brought nothing but the realization that he was gone for real, that the arguing and packing wasn't just a silly dream she had experienced, and with the light came a sense of emptiness that Vriska figured she wouldn't be able to have when there was a life other than hers residing in her body. The other side of the bed was cold and the blankets were still bunched up from where Tavros had thrown them off of himself before leaving, and she took a second to move over to his spot and try to make sense of his actions.

So maybe she should have told him sooner, so he could have more time to react and they could have come to a consensual decision about what to do. So maybe she should have thought about his feelings before she got attached. But this was, in the end, her decision to make, and he shouldn't have gotten so upset about her leaving him out of it. Yet he did get upset and he left her for it, and from that moment on, she decided, he was not going to be let back into her life just to flip out on her at a future time.

The first few days with him gone were difficult to manage, mostly because she had grown so accustomed to him being around whenever she was, and now the little home they had shared seemed so empty without him in it. After he had come and taken the rest of his belongings he wasn't able to get that night, she made him leave his keys and that was the end of him ever being allowed back into the house. But she did need someone else living with her, because while she did make enough money at her job to pay for everything she needed, there was absolutely no leftover spending money for anything related to the baby she was now going to be raising completely on her own, and having some sort of roommate would give her a little extra cash.

She looked longingly at her phone, expecting it to give her the answers she needed in the situation she was now in. If it was possible, she'd call up her best friend and as her to come live with her, but Terezi was off living her dream life of going to law school and becoming the lawyer she had always wanted to be—meaning no time for little old Vriska. She moped about that for a few minutes, before realizing that she did have another friend who was almost as good as Terezi, plus had the skills of taking care of children that the blind law-obsessed friend wouldn't have.

The phone rang twice before it was answered, and the silky voice on the other side brought a smile to Vriska's face when she heard it. “Yes, my friend?” the voice asked, smooth and calming, a peaceful thing to hear after the last few days Vriska had been through. “What do you need?”

“I got dumped, and I need someone to come stay with me, and I figured, since you're still living at home, maybe you'd be interested.” She hit all the main points in the one sentence, and felt proud of her attempt. The response she got was a soft noise, one allowing her to know that the person on the other side of the line was thinking. “Come on, Kanaya, what do you say?”

“I can't say I'll live there, but I can stay for a few days if you want me to.” The thing about Kanaya was that she was a very good friend, and while she did things rationally and reasonably, she was never one to turn down helping someone. In fact, when Vriska had first found out about her pregnancy, she had told Kanaya before anyone else, and Kanaya had arguably been more excited about it than Vriska was. She was even the one who first termed it as an adventure, which was what got Vriska into actually liking the fact that it was happening.

And she was happy that Kanaya was going to come spend some time with her. “Yes! Come for as many days as you want! I'd love if you'd live here, but it's fine if you don't.” She faked a sniffle. “Except, if you don't live here, then I'll either have to find another job or move out of this house, because I don't have the money for both my house _and_ a baby...”

“You will not find another job, not while I'm around. It's bad enough that you'll be working one job in your condition, so two is simply unacceptable.” Kanaya gasped after speaking, and Vriska assumed that she had covered her mouth in reaction to her own words. “I m-mean, it's your own decision. I don't have a say.”

“You do have a say, though, and that say is by moving in and helping me pay for things.”

“I'll think about it after staying with you a few days. If it doesn't work out, I'm sure you're more than welcome to come live at my parents' house. You know how my mother is when it comes to children.” She laughed, causing Vriska to laugh as well, and the conversation continued on from there. Just hours later, Kanaya appeared at the front door with a bag of her belongings that she figured she'd need for a week's stay at the absolute most.

By the end of that week she had already decided that she would be moving in, not just to help Vriska out but to also begin to spread her wings and leave her family home. She made it official by bringing her own bed and other personal things, such as her sewing machine and old toys, and putting them in the oft-neglected spare room that the house had. “I'm so glad you're staying here,” Vriska said, watching Kanaya set up the things in her new room just the way she wanted them to be. “Means a whole lot to me. Really.”

“I know it means a lot to you. Thank you for giving me a place to stay, even if it is out of benefit to you,” she said, putting a stuffed doll on the windowsill. “I'll pay my share of the bills and help you raise your child, I promise. It's what any decent friend would do.”

The smile that had been on Vriska's lips ever since the decision was made for Kanaya to move in just made itself bigger. “Aw, that's great to hear! I'm lucky to have someone who knows so much about children willing to help me out a bit. I'm pretty sure I'd kill it on accident if you weren't here to help me.”

“Then what made you think that you and Tavros could raise a child?”

She shrugged. “Like you told me at first, it was just an adventure for us to go on. Now it's just me and I've got a great guide for it.” She protectively placed a hand on her stomach bump that seemed to be getting more noticeable day after day. “Promise me you'll stick around until I've got the hang of things. Promise.”

“I'm planning on sticking around as long as you need me, Vriska. Not just until you think you're ready to have me gone, but until I can look at you and see that you're capable of raising your child and doing all the things that must be done to keep a healthy home.” Another doll was put next to the first one, and Kanaya turned to look at her friend. “But until then, I hope you understand that I can get a bit, well, overbearing when it comes to children.”

“What do you mean by that?” she asked, raising her eyebrows and moving her hand to balance herself in the doorway.

“I mean that I will boss you around. I will tell you exactly what to do, how to do it, and when it should be done. I didn't spend my entire life watching my mother watch children in her home daycare for nothing, you know.” There was a mischievous look in Kanaya's eyes, followed with a wink that spelled nothing but trouble. “If you know what's good for you, I'd suggest listening to me when I say things.”

Vriska laughed, because she knew that if anyone knew anything about what was going on between the two of them, it would be Kanaya even though she had never been pregnant for a day in her life. “I'd be stupid to ignore you. You'll be my lifesaver through all of this, I'm sure.”

“I'm sure I will be too.” While it seemed like an extremely arrogant thing to say, Kanaya had no doubts in her knowledge of children, and if she didn't know it from seeing it first-hand, then countless hours of research were what she fell back on. Any time Vriska had a question, she would answer it without so much as a blink or a disruption of whatever task she was in the middle of.

As the days and weeks passed, the relationship between the two of them became more like one of lovers rather than best friends, never spending a moment apart unless it was absolutely necessary. Anywhere Vriska went that wasn't work, Kanaya tagged along, just to make sure that she did nothing to potentially harm the fast-growing child that was currently incubating inside of Vriska's womb. That meant they went grocery shopping together, with Kanaya making sure all of the contents of the cart were beneficial to unborn babies; all car rides consisted of Kanaya driving and Vriska in the back seat, where she was deemed “safest”; and, most importantly, they went out after dark with each other, for Kanaya knew that if Vriska was put in a situation where she would have to rely on self-defense, the baby would be the first victim of any damage.

But the places they went the most were the fabric store and the furniture store. The fabric store was where Kanaya picked out all the cloth she felt she needed to make suitable decorations for the baby's room, and the furniture store was where they both decided on the crib and other furnishings that the baby needed. If they weren't at either of those places while they were out, they were definitely going to go there at some point on their trip.

The weeks turned to months, and trips anywhere aside from routine appointments (which Kanaya made sure to schedule with the most respectable of doctors in the area) became less and less frequent. Eventually it turned into only Kanaya going places, because she didn't want to run the risk of her friend overworking her body, or worse, accidentally starting the courses of labor. While that was not a real risk that she needed to worry about, it was something that was brought up every single day when they spoke, and it became ingrained in Vriska's head as a viable fear.

By the time the end of the last month of the pregnancy came around, it was as if Kanaya had seamlessly begun to fill the role of the father of the child, as she had started to constantly worry about Vriska and how she was doing. They began to share the same bed, just so Kanaya could be right next to her in case anything happened during the night, and every morning she would wake Vriska up by peppering her incredibly swollen and almost perfectly rounded stomach with little kisses, as if she was trying to tell the child inside that it was a good time to want to come out. Throughout the day, Kanaya would do everything possible for her friend, no matter how much she whined, complained, or cursed at her—in the last weeks leading up to the fabled “due date”, everything was upsetting to Vriska, and she reacted to it with anger or sadness, no in-between. She was mentally treating Kanaya like she was the child's father, and her reactions were indicative of this. “You're the one who did this to me!” she would yell, causing Kanaya to come to her and hold her tightly, telling her everything was okay.

But not everything _was_ okay, a fact that Vriska didn't even know about until she was sitting in a hospital bed, machines hooked to her and a needle in her arm. “What do you mean, this kid isn't turning around?” she asked, eyes wide and filled with worry. “You can get him out though, right?”

The doctor that was present said that yes, they could, but it would possibly result in being cut open to extract the child. That scared Vriska, who required Kanaya's presence to calm her down. A gentle hand to hold was enough to stop her from bursting into tears. “It's really no big deal, Vriska,” Kanaya said with her smooth and peaceful voice. “It just explains why he hasn't come yet. Everything will be fine.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” The doctor cleared her throat, before asking why Kanaya was there, if she was just a friend, or a sister, or something more. That particular question had never actually been asked before, and although the doctor was asking it as a genuinely curious thing, it made the two women look between each other with unsure expressions. “Um, at this point, I'd say we're something more than friends, but not lovers. Sort of like we are each other's other half.” Kanaya smiled as she spoke, which in turn made Vriska visibly less worried and crack a small smile as well.

“That's adorable,” the doctor mumbled, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the two of them being so cute in the situation they were in. “Now let's try to get this baby out so you two can be the great mothers I'm sure you're meant to be.”

It was a compliment that Vriska and Kanaya both never thought they would hear from a figure of authority, Vriska because she had always believed deep down that she wasn't capable of raising a child, and Kanaya because she had felt like she would be with a woman forever, never having enough money to get the opportunity to be a mother. And by the end of the hours-long ordeal, they had braved the adventure known as pregnancy together, and were embarking on the long journey of parenthood together, with their newborn son as their companion.  
There was not a single thing that either of them would change about it.

* * *

The sound of bare feet echoed against the hardwood floor, followed with a series of screeches and giggles that marked the existence of a toddler in the house. “Oh, I wonder where my little boy is?” Vriska asked, peeking into the bedroom that had originally been Kanaya's before it was repurposed as the child's room. There she found him, running in little circles and screeching at the sight of his mom. “There he is!”

“Mama!” the boy cried out, running to her and clinging to her legs. “Mama hi mama hi!”

“Yes, hi there baby. What are you doing in here? Hiding from your dinner?” She laughed, bending down to pick him up, which he protested to with more screeches. “Hey, none of that, okay? You need to eat so you can be strong like me and your mommy.”

“Mama mommy...?” The boy's eyes, a dark brown much unlike the blue eyes Vriska had, stared at her with wonder. “No!”

She tilted her head, on their way from the bedroom to the high chair set up in the kitchen. “No what? No food? No being like us? Come on, you need to be strong. There's got to be a big, strong boy in this house to do the work for us!” He continued to protest with long strings of the word no, long after he had been secured in his seat, and Vriska just looked at him, a smile on her face while she shook her head. “You're one silly child.”

“He'll eat when he sees the food, he always does,” Kanaya said from in front of the fridge, where she had put the boy's meal to cool for a minute. “And then he'll go back to playing and then the cycle repeats. You know this.”

“I know, but still, he's really silly. He's my little Ry-guy, though, and he needs me to pick on him.” She bent over and put her hand on his head, messing up what little dark hair he had, while he still went on with his protests. “Now bring me his food, I think he's going to no himself to sleep if we wait too much longer.”

Kanaya opened the fridge and pulled out a small bowl, bringing it over to the highchair with a small spoon with it. It was right when she set the bowl down that the house phone, a relic of days when every home had one, began to ring. “Who could be calling...?” she questioned, scurrying off to answer it while leaving Vriska to feed the child some of the homemade macaroni and cheese she had made for him.

The person on the other end of the line didn't respond initially when Kanaya answered, so she figured it was just a misdial and was about to hang up. She was just about to pull the phone from her ear when the other person spoke. “Is Vriska there?” they asked, voice low and worried-sounding. “Please tell me she is.”

“Why should I tell you if she is or not when I don't know who you are?” Kanaya attempted to sound protective, and she hoped that she could keep Vriska's presence under wraps, but screams from the kitchen ruined the secret. She sighed and rolled her eyes, especially after the loud screeching began once again. “Okay, she's here. Who are you and what do you want with her?”

“I want to talk to her.”

“Not until I know who you are,” she snapped, looking back to where the mother and child were. “I can't potentially let you harm her.”

“Listen, I just need to ask her something...” The other person sounded desperate, but Kanaya's motherly instincts were kicking in hard and all she wanted to do was protect her partner and the kid they were raising; she was just about to hang up once more when the person spoke again. “You won't let me until you know who I am, will you?”

Even though they couldn't see her, she nodded. “That's right. Now if talking to my Vriska, my _girlfriend_ , is important to you, you'll tell me who you are.”

“Your girlfriend? Vriska isn't like that.” The other person sounded uncomfortable, causing Kanaya to suspect that she knew who she was talking to. “I just need to ask her something, really. Please let me, I'm begging you.”

“If you won't tell me who you are, the closest you'll be getting to asking her anything is me. Now either let me know your name, or ask me your question.” She didn't really need his name anymore, as she was almost positive she knew who she was talking to, but she wanted to be sure. He sighed and mumbled something, what she assumed was his name, but since it was too low of a mumble she was unable to make it out. “Speak up.”

“This is Tavros. You know, the guy who stupidly left her? I need to make sure she's okay.” As Kanaya knew that Vriska would have no interest whatsoever in speaking to him again for as long as she lived, she denied him his request and finally put the phone back on its receiver. It rang again moments later, and her reaction was to simply unplug it. There would be no more interaction with that man unless it was mandated by law, she decided.

“Who was that you were talking to?” Vriska asked once Kanaya came back over to where she was. She didn't get an answer, which she shrugged off immediately. “You missed the fight. Look at this kid.” Kanaya did turn her attention to the child in the chair, who now had cheese sauce caked in his hair and all over his tan skin. “He's a mess. Little snot wouldn't eat his food without his mommy over here.”

“Mommy.” He reached up at her with a hand that was gripping a noodle for dear life. “Mommy yes?”

She laughed. “Yes, little one, this is Mommy.” His face began to sport a giant grin, and she laughed more. “I'm so grateful to be here, with this gem of a child.”

“Hey, what have I said about getting sappy around my little Ryker-roo?” Vriska looked at Kanaya with a small smile, but her question was serious. “Did that call make you forget I don't want you teaching my baby to be a sap?”

“It did, and I apologize, but that call...ugh.” She pulled up a chair and sat down, ready to get into a conversation that could last a while. “It was Ry-guy's, ahem, sperm donor.” Calling Tavros anything even close to the child's father was just wrong in both of their eyes, because even though she lacked the parts to be a dad biologically, it was very clear that Kanaya had always been meant to fill the role. “And he wanted to talk to you.”

“Probably to beg me for forgiveness and to see my son, yeah.” She gave an exaggerated sigh and rolled her eyes. “What a dick. Does he forget what he did, abandoning me? He doesn't deserve anything other than a kick in the pants and to be laughed at.”

Kanaya nodded in agreement, before putting her hand on Vriska's shoulder. “That's why I hung up on him. And disconnected the phone. If he shows up, get me, and I'll handle him. He'll be sorry for ever hurting you like he did. And if he wants to bring the authorities into this, fine, but he'll lose whatever battles he wants to start.”

“Oh, come on, you're not going to let me kick his ass if he comes around here?” Her smile came back, and this time it was more sly and mischievous. “You know I've been wanting to do that since he left.”

“There will be no physical altercations started on our part, or they'll take our child from us and give him to a man who has no right to raise him.” Kanaya's eyes locked with the small child's, and they both smiled. “Then again, do I really have a right either?”

“He'd probably be dead if you hadn't been around for me, so...” Vriska leaned towards Kanaya, planting a quick but firm kiss on her cheek. “Thanks for being here. Thanks for being a better dad than any dumb sperm donor could be.”

The moment would have gone romantic, if it weren't for the child deciding that right then was a good time to have a freak out and begin screaming that he wanted out of his chair. The two moms looked between each other, before bursting into laughter and continuing on with their evening.


End file.
